Remember Cedric
by SweetenedSugar
Summary: Cho just wants to see him again, but she knows that this isn't going to happen. She just wishes that people will leave her alone, but one person won't listen. Can Cho deal with his death and still remember him?


Author's Note: This is a little Cho fic that I just thought up. I don't really like Cho, but I think that her situation is a good writing excercise. I am hoping to make this a bit angsty, but if it isn't, let me know. Enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own nuttin'. The lines that Dumbledore says are directly from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. So are most of the characters.  
  
I sat there, looking out the window. I didn't want to cry. I didn't want my friends to see how hurt I had been.  
  
"Umm...Cho?"  
  
My friends had been very quiet around me for the past week. Just about everyone had. They knew how close I had been to him, but they couldn't feel the pain I felt.  
  
"Cho, the feast is going to start soon."  
  
I didn't answer them. I knew what I would find at the feast. Memories. That's all they could be now that he was gone. Only memories.  
  
"We understand if you don't want to go."  
  
They didn't understand. No one could understand. To lose someone like him was unbearable. I wanted to relive my life, and to stop him from leaving me that night.  
  
"If you decide to go, we'll see you there."  
  
I wanted to tell them to go away. That talking to me wasn't going to do anything. That all I wanted was to see him again.  
  
"Bye Cho."  
  
I heard them leaving, but worst of all, I heard the most horrible thing. As they were walking out, my friends started talking in whispers. They were giggling. Giggling meant that they were happy. I never wanted to be happy again. All I wanted to do was to drown in my sorrows.  
  
"Cho?"  
  
I looked up, only to find Melanie Sandler, a third year. I had tutored her during her first and second years.  
  
"Cho, you look like you're upset."  
  
I stared blankly at her.  
  
"You looked like you were going to cry before."  
  
I looked towards the window, which usually made people leave me alone. However, Melanie was persistant.  
  
"Cho, what's wrong?"  
  
I wanted her to leave. I wanted her to feel a little bit of pain that was passing through me. All I wanted was to be alone.  
  
"Cho?"  
  
I couldn't take it anymore. I let my feelings out, shouting and screaming and crying at the same time.  
  
"WHAT'S WRONG? MY BOYFRIEND IS DEAD! THAT'S WHAT'S WRONG!"  
  
She stared at me with a confused expression.  
  
"You miss him?"  
  
I wanted to tear the little girl's head off. How could she not understand? I collapsed into sobs.  
  
"I miss him more than...than anything..."  
  
Hot tears poured down my face, and suddenly Melanie's arms wrapped around me. I cried into her shoulder for a few minutes, until I was finally able to compose myself.  
  
"I...I'm sorry I yelled at you."  
  
She looked up at me, compassion in her eyes.  
  
"It's alright. Want to come down to the feast with me?"  
  
I considered for a moment, and then I nodded my head. I got up from the couch and wiped my eyes on my robes. Melanie led me through the portrait hole, down to the Great Hall. I sat at the very end of my table, far away from my friends. Melanie sat next to me, and her presence made me feel better. The black drapes that hung silently in the Hall were taunting me, begging me to break down again. I knew that I had to fight against them. He would have wanted me to. Dumbledore stood up, and the Hall became quiet.  
  
"The end of another year."  
  
I felt like I was about to crumble. I knew I wasn't the only one. The Hufflepuffs still looked visibly shaken, and I sympathized with them.  
  
"There is much that I would like to say to you tonight, but I must first acknowledge the loss of a very find person, who should be sitting here, enjoying the feast with us."  
  
I felt the tears coming back, but I knew that if I cried, I wouldn't be able to stop.  
  
"I would like you all, please, to stand, and raise your glasses, to Cedric Diggory."  
  
I didn't know if I would be able to stand, and Melanie saw this. She helped me to me feet, as I raised my goblet and found my voice.  
  
"Cedric Diggory."  
  
As the occupants of the Great Hall uttered these words, my tears resurfaced. Silently, they poured down my face. This time, I didn't try to stop them. I had finally realized that he was only a memory now, only a name that could bring tears to my eyes. I had finally realized that he was never coming back. I sat down in silence.  
  
"Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguished Hufflepuff house. He was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, he valued fair play. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not."  
  
I could see some of my friends looking at me. I looked back towards Dumbledore.  
  
"I think that you have a right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about."  
  
I knew what had happened. The Diggorys had explained to me, and so had Dumbledore. I knew the rest of the Hogwarts students were about to be shocked.  
  
"Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort."  
  
As I had predicted, panicked whispers shot throughout the Hall. Dumbledore continued on.  
  
"The Ministry of Magic does not wish me to tell you this. It is possible that some of your parents will be horrified that I have done so - either because they will not believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, or because they think I should not tell you so, young as you are."  
  
My father, a Ministry official, had not wanted me to know. He did not believe it himself. My mother only cared about my reaction to the horrible news.  
  
"It is my belief, however, that the truth is preferable to lies, and that any attempt to pretend that Cedric died as a result of an accident, or some sort of blunder of his own, is an insult to his memory."  
  
I knew that Dumbledore was right. I always had faith in Dumbledore.  
  
"There is someone else who must be mentioned in connection with Cedric's death."  
  
Thoughts ran through my head.  
  
"I am talking, of course, about Harry Potter."  
  
I turned my head to look at the scrawny, fourteen year old, who had asked me to the Yule Ball. I instantly felt sorry for him.  
  
"Harry Potter managed to escape Lord Voldemort. He risked his own life to return Cedric's body to Hogwarts."  
  
I silently thanked Harry.  
  
"He showed, in every respect, the sort of bravery that few wizards have ever shown in facing Lord Voldemort, and for this, I honor him."  
  
Most of the occupants of the Great Hall said his name, though I could see that many Slytherins remained seated. I wanted to hurt them. This boy had almost given his life to bring my boyfriend's body back to his parents. I felt immense gratitude towards him. As I sat down, Dumbledore continued on about the perils we would soon face, and I hung on every word. It was not until his last words, that I could feel the tears coming to my eyes once more.  
  
"Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."  
  
The train ride the next day was shorter than I had expected it to be. I sat with Melanie, but my friends didn't mind. They didn't want to sit with a depressed person like me. They didn't seem to care about me anymore. They wished that I would just get on with my life. That I would go back to being the person I used to be. I didn't think I would ever see that side of me again.  
  
Melanie and I played Exploding Snap most of the ride home. Sitting with her made me feel better. Like I had finally found a friend. As we got off the train, and I finally said goodbye to my fifth year at Hogwarts, tears threatened to fall again. Something came from inside me to stop them, and I suddenly knew that everything would be okay, and that I could keep on going. I muttered the words to myself.  
  
"Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort."  
  
I finally had the courage to say his name.  
  
"Remember Cedric." 


End file.
